Traveling cleaner



W. B. HODGE TRAVELING CLEANER Filed May 23, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I am fW/LL/AM 5. HODGE Dec. 26,1939. w B, HOD Gk 2,184,880

TRAVELING CLEANER Filed May 23, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ea 94 9? 92 85 I M2% 24 41a UH 0W: v I WILLIAM HODGE Dec. 26, 1939.

w. B. HODGE 2,184,880

TRAVELING CLEANER Filed'May 25, 1938 5' Shets-Sheet 5 v 7 3mm:

WILLIAM B. HODGE Patented Dec. 26,1939

2,184,880 TRAVELING CLEANER William B. Hodge, Charlotte, N. 0., assignorto Parks-Cramer Company, Fitchburg, Mass, a corporation of MassachusettsApplication May 23, 1938, Serial No. 209,546

11 Claims. (Cl. 1520) This invention relates to a cleaning apparatus fortextile machinery, and more particularly to a cleaner mounted upon atrackway and adapted to travel successively over a plurality of rows oftextile machinery. In my prior patent, No.

2,011,763 of August 20, 1935,-a traveling cleaner is disclosed in whichdownwardly directed blasts of air are projected onto the upper portionof textile machines to clean and to remove lint and other foreignsubstances therefrom. It

quite frequently happens that it is desired to eliminate this blast overone or more'machines,

especially when dofiing takes place, or in case it is desired to workupon any particular mal5 chine. The reason for eliminating these blastsof air, over a particular machine while doffing is being effected, isquite obvious, since the yarn is not being processed at this time, andconsequently no lint will be falling therefrom. Also 0 the blasts. ofair are objectionable at this time,

because it will interfere with the operation of dofiing. V

It is, therefore an object of this invention to provide a trackwaymounted above a plurality of spaced textile machines over which blastproducing means are adapted to travel for delivering blasts of air ontothe machines, and means for automatically rendering the blast producingmeans inoperative while the fan passes over one or more of the machines,and means for automatically rendering the blast producing meansoperative after it has passed over a particular machine or machines.

It is another object of this invention to provide a fan mounted so as tosuccessively traverse a plurality of spaced textile machines, and amotor for driving the fan, with a clutch between the motor and the fanand means for automatically disengaging the clutch as it passes over themachine and means for engaging the clutch after the fan has passed overa particular machine.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a cleaning apparatusof the class described comprising a pair of fans for directing blasts ofair down onto spaced textile machines, with a motor for driving eachfan, a third motor for driving a carriage and said fans over successiverows of spaced textile machines as shown in my co-pending application,Serial No. 59,614,

filed January 17, 1936, of which this application is a continuation inpart. In this present application means are provided for breaking thecircuit to the fan motors while the carriage is traveling over aparticular textile machine and other means for automatically cutting onthe fan motors after the carriage has traveled over the particularmachines.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the descrlption proceeds when taken in connection with 5the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an elevation of aplurality of tex-' tile machines, showing my invention applied thereto;I

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional View taken it) along the line 2-2 inFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 33 in Figure2;

Figure 4 is a sectional detail viewtaken along the line t-t in Figure 3;I it? Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in Figure 2;

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional detail view talren along theline 6-t in Figure 3;

Figure 6a is a sectional plan view taken along 2;) line fizz-6a inFigure 6;

Figure '7 is a sectional view through a trackway disposed above atextile machine and showing a slightly different form of the invention;

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view taken along 25 the line 8-4 inFigure '7;

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken along the line 53-9 in Figure 8;

Figure 10 is an exploded isometric view of the switch employed forcontrolling thecurrent to 39 the fan motors;

Figure 11 is a schematic electrical wiring diagram of the invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numerals l0 and IIdenote suitable textile 35 machines such as spinning frames, spoolers,drawing frames, and the like, which are spaced apart from each otherleaving a passageway l2 therebetween. These textile machines havemounted on the upper side thereof, suitable stands it, the upper end ofwhich support tracks l5 and I6. Mounted upon these tracks are wheels I!and. I8, respectively, of a wheeled traveler Ill. The traveler H! has amotor 20 carried thereby, which motor receives its elec- 45 tricalenergy through cable 2!, said cable cornmunicating with contacts 22, 23and 24. These contacts areadapted to slide along wires 25, 26 and 21,respectively, as the traveler moves longi tudinally of the trackway. 50

The motor 20 has a motor shaft 30 extending upwardly therefrom, and theupper end of this shaft has secured therearound, a collar 3| by means ofpin 32, said collar having a flange 3Ia.

Disposed below this flanged collar is a clutch is shoe 33, which hassecured to the lower side thereof by means of rivets 34, a clutch lining35. A roller bearing 36 is disposed between the shoe 33 and the collar3| so that when the lower face 5 of clutch lining 35 is not contacted,the clutch shoe 33 and its associated parts can have free rotativemovement around the collar 3|. The upper side of the clutch shoe 33 hassuitable plates 31 secured thereto by means of stud bolts 38, andsecured to these plates are fan blades 39, which blades extend radiallyof the shaft 38.

The lower face of the clutch lining 3 5 is contacted by a clutch disk 45which is also mounted around the lower portion of collar 3|. This diskhas secured to the lower side thereof, a small collar 46 by means ofupwardly projecting pins 41, said collar 46 also being secured to thelower portion of flanged collar 3| by means of pins 48 which extend intoslots 49 disposed in the lower edge of collar 3|. The pins 48 preventrelative rotation between the collar 3| and members 45 and 46, butrelative vertical movement can take place on account of the slots 49.

' An inner race 58 is mounted around the shaft 38 directly below thecollars 3| and 46. Disposed around the upper portion of race 50 andsupporting collar 46 is a ring 5| which has extending from opposed sidesthereof pins 52, said pins being rotatably mounted in opposed sides ofan outer ring 53. Disposed at right angles to the pins 52 and projectingfrom the outer ring 53,

is a pin 54. This pin has one end loosely mounted-in the ring 53 and hasits other end secured in the upper portion of post 55, said postextending downwardly and being supported by the motor 28. Directly inline with the pin 54 and secured in the opposite side of the ring 53 isan arm 56, the outer end of which has the upper end of a verticallydisposed rod 51 slidably mounted therein. Suitable nuts 58 are securedupon the upper portion of the rod 51 whereas a compression spring 59 isdisposed around rod 51 and on the lower side of the lever 56 tonorunally press the end of the arm 56 upwardly 45 against the nuts 58.The lower end of spring 59 is confined around the rod 51 by means ofplate 68, which plate is secured to the upper portion of the motor 20 bymeans of a bolt 6|.

The rod 51 is adapted to be moved up and down to engage and' disengagethe brake lining 35 from the, face of disk 45. When the rod 51 is moveddownwardly then the arm 56 and its associated ring 53 will be rotated ina clockwise manner about the pin 54 (Figure 6). This movement willrelease the upward pressure of the ring 53 against the collar 46, which,in turn, will relieve frictional pressure between the upper side of disk45 and brake lining 35 because the upper side of shoe 33 will no longerbe pressed against the lower side of flange 3|a. When the pressurebetween the faces of disk 45 and brake lining 35 is released, then theshaft 38 and the associated collar 3| will rotate, but the fan blades 39and associated hub 33 will remain stationary around the shaft becauserotation to these members is imparted by virtue of the friction betweenmembers 35 and 45.

The lower portion of the race 58 has an outer race 65 mountedtherearound and suitable balls 66 are disposed therebetween. Acompression spring 61 is disposed directly below the race 58 and has itslower end normally confined around the shaft 30 by means of a cup shapedmember .68 which member is secured to the shaft 30 by means of set screw69. The spring 61 normally presses the members 65, 58, 5|, 46 and 46upwardly against the brake lining 35. Upon the downward movement of arm56 and the downward movement of rod 51 this spring is compressed torelieve this upward pressure. It is, therefore, seen that it isnecessary for the members 35 and 45 to be engaged when the traveler istraveling over machines which are in operation but disengaged whentraveling over a machine whenever a dofling operation is being effected.

j The lower end of the rod 51 has a block 18 secured thereto which blockhas a slot 1| therein surrounding the restricted portion 12 of a bolt13. The bolt 13 is threadably secured in the side of the traveler l9.'The lower end of block 10 has a stud 88 extending therefrom whichnormally contacts cam 8|. This cam has depressions 82 and 83, thedepressions 82 being disposed nearer the center of shaft 12 than thedepressions 83. With the stud 80 in a depression 82 as shown in Figure5, the upper portion of the rod 51 will be allowed to move upwardly farenough to cause the members 45 and 35 to frictionally engage each other,in which event the rotation of shaft 38 will impart rotation to the fanblades. On the other hand when the cam 8| has been rotated through anangle of 90 degrees from the position shown in Figure 5, the stud 80will be disposed in depression 83, at which time the rod 51- will bemoved downwardly toimpart vertical movement to members 56 and 53, andthereby relieve the pressure between the members 35 and 45 (Figure 6).

The cam 8| is an integral part of hub 85 and this hub has radiallydisposed prongs 86 extending therefrom. Suitable laterally projectinbolts are disposed in the path of .the lowermost of these prongs, andwhen one of these members contacts a. bolt 81, a quarter revolution isimparted to the hub 85 and its associated cam 8| to thereby engage ordisengage the members 35 and 45.

The bolts 81 .are preferably disposed at each end of the textilemachines l8 and H, and adjacent the aisles l2. Each of the bolts ispivoted as at 81a to the upper portion of stand l4. Disposed beneath thebolt 81 is a suitable leaf spring 88 which normally holds the bolt in alaterally extending position. The base of the bolt 81 has a toe portion81b for limiting the counter-clockwise movement (Figures 2 and 3). Whenit is desired to rotate the bolt 81 out of the path of the prongs 86 sothat the clutch arrangement will not be operated, it is only necessaryto pull the free end of bolt 81 downwardly for a' quarter revolution toa point where this bolt will be in a plane paralle1 to the motor shaft30.

In Figure 1 the fan is shown disposed over the aisle l2 at which timethe stud 80 in Figure 5 is disposed in a cavity 82 which will allow themembers 35 and 45 to be engaged and cause the fan to be in operation. Asthe fan moves to the left, if machine H is being dofied, a laterallyextending bolt 81 will be set in horizontal position to be in the pathof a prong 86, and impart a quarter revolution to the cam 8|. This, ofcourse, will disengage the clutch and cause the fan to cease operationbut at the same time the motor 20 will propel the traveler I9 over thetextile machine After the carriage has reached the other end of thetextile machine, another bolt 81 will be set in horizontal position toengage one of the downstanding prongs 86 and impart another quarterrevolution which will place the stud 80 in another depression 82, atwhich time the clutch members 35- and 45 will again become engaged andthe fan will resume its operation.

The fan is encased by a suitable casing 90 which has removably securedin the upper portion thereof, a ring 9|. The upper end of the ring 9|has a diametrically disposed member 92 mounted thereon the center ofwhich supports a plurality of adjustable vanes 93 as at 94. These vanesare rotated to difierent positions in order to vary the size of theopening in the upper side of the casing 90.

The lower side of casing 90 has bifurcated skirts 96 and 91 for theaccommodation of the upper edges of spouts 98 and 99, respectively, saidspouts being secured as at I00 and 6|, respectively, to the upper sideof motor 20 (Figure 2). Suitable straps I05 and I06 are secured toopposed sides of the casing 90 by means of rivets I01 and I08 and thesestraps have suitable slots I09 and H0 therein which are penetrated bybolts 1 II and H2, respectively. These bolts also penetrate spouts 98and 99 and hold them in adjusted position relative to straps I05 andI06. For example, if it is desired to vary the position of the lowerends of the spouts 98 and 99, so as to direct blasts of air in adifferent direction, then nuts III and H2 may be loosened and rotationimparted to the respective spouts. Although these spouts are notprovided they are made of material sufficiently flexible to allowbending without damaging the material. The bending or pivoting takesplace at points 98a and 99a. The lower end of spouts 98 and 99 havepivoted thereto, as at H5 and H6, nozzles H1 and I I8, respectively.Also disposed in the spouts 98 and 99 are vanes I I9 and I20 which arerotated to proportion the amount of air which is delivered by the lowerpivoted nozzles H1 and H8.

Figures 7 to 11, inclusive, show another form of the invention which isin many respects similar to the form of the form shown in Figure 6 of myco-pending application, Serial No. 59,614, filed January 1'1, 1936. Inthis form of the invention, the trackways I5 and I6 have mounted thereona traveler I29 provided with wheels I30 and I3I, respectively, saidwheels,-being mounted upon the ends of transverse shafts I33 and I33a.This shaft is rotatably mounted in housing I34 and has a gear I35fixedly secured to the intermediate portion. The gear I35 meshes with aworm I35 which worm is driven by motor I31, said motor being supportedby the carriage I34.

As the motor I 31 is operated. it is evident that rotation will beimparted to the wheels I3I and I32 through the members I36 and I35and'I33.

The motor, I31 has wires I40 and MI leading from opposed sides thereof,said wires being also connected to wires I42 and I43 respectively. WireI40 has a hand switch I44 disposed therein which may be operatedmanually to cut ed the motor I31. The wires I42 and I43 are connected toterminals I46 and I41, which terminals contact trolley wires I48 andI49, respectively, which are disposed below the trackway. It is seenthat the motor I31 which drives the housing I34 will rotate at all timesand is controlled by switch I44.

Mounted upon the housing I34 is a support I55, the ends of which projectto an overhanging position relative to the tracks I5 and I6. Each end ofthe member I55 has a socket I56 secured thereto in which balls I51 orbracket I58 are adapted to fit. Mounted in the brackets I58 are mountedthereon. These fans have guards I66 and I61, respectively surroundingthe same. The motors I60 and IN are hooked up in parallel by wires I68and I69, the wire I68 having switches I10 and HI for controlling thecurrent to motors I60 and I6I, respectively. Leading from the wire I68is another wire I12, the other end of which is secured to terminal I13.This terminal is mounted in insulation block I14, which block issupported by bracket I15, said bracket extending outwardly from thehousing I34.

By observing Figure 10, it is seen that the block I14 has notches I11,I18, I19 and I cut in the face thereof, The notch I80 has extendingthereinto another terminal I8I which is identical to the terminal I13.Leading from this terminal are wires MI and I42 which have beenpreviously described. By observing the wiring diagram in Figure 11, itis seen that when the terminals I13 and I8I are connected that currentwill flow to the motors I60 and I6 I that is, when the switches I10 andHI are closed.

It should be stated that when this form of the invention is employed incombination with a plurality of spinning frames and it is desired to cutoff the air while the traveler passes over a frame, as in case of adofiing operation being effected, means must be provided for breakingthe connection between the terminals I13 and I8I, while the fans arepassing over the textile machine to eliminate draughts, and also meansmust be provided for making contact between these two terminals when thefans pass over the machines in operation.

In order to. accomplish this result, I have provided a rotary switch barI which has alternate positions in which the terminals HM and I13 arecontacted and which also has alternate positions in which the terminalsare not contacted. In other words, the switch bar I85 is so actuatedthat while the fans are passing over a machine not in operation theswitch bar I85 will have its extremities resting in notches I18 and I80in a non-contacting position whereas while the fans pass over a machinein operation, the switch bar will be resting in notches I11 and I19 andat the same time contacting the terminals I13 and I8I.

The switch bar I85 is .fixedly secured upon shaft I which shaft has oneend thereof rotatably mounted in bore I9I .in block I14. The other endof shaft I90 is rotatably mountedin housing I92, said housing beingsecured to the braeket I15. A suitablespring I98 is disposed aroundtheshaft I90 one end of which normally presses against the bar I85 andits other end being confined upon the rod by the housing I92. Thisspring presses the bar I85 against block I14 at all times. The 'end ofthe shaft I90 nearest the observer in Figure 10 is adapted to penetratea hole I92a in housing I92 and upon the projecting end of the shaft, asuitable insulation block I93 is mounted. This block has radiallydisposed arms I94 extending therefrom. When in assem- -I95 out of thepath of the radially disposedarms I94 so that the fans I64 and I65 willoper-\ ate continuously, over all of the frames I0 and II,

it is only necessary to rotate the bolt I95 to dotted line position(Figure 9), at which time the spring I91 will also hold the bolt I95 outof the path of the arms I94. As. the traveler I29 moves to the leftalong the trackway, it is evident that a prong I94 will engage thelaterally extending bolt I95and cause the shaft I99 to rotatesubstantially through an angle of degrees. If the switch bar'I95 isdisposed in cavities Ill and I19, that is in contact position, therotation of the shaft by the engagement of members I94 and I will rotatethe same bar into the adjacent cavities I19 and I89, at which time nocontact will be made and the circuit to the fan motors IBI and I60 willbe broken.

It is therefore seen that I have also provided an electrical means forautomatically and periodically controlling the air delivery of acleaning apparatus for textile machinery.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth preferredembodiments of the invention, and although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth inthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a traveling cleaner apparatus having a motor for propelling thesame along a suitable trackway and having a fan clutched to said motorto be driven thereby for producing blasts of air as the apparatustravels along said trackway, and means carried by the apparatus andcooperating with other means disposed at spaced intervals along thetrackway for disconnecting the fan from the motor at predetermined timesand for predetermined intervals, and again con necting the fan to themotor.

2. A traveling cleaner apparatus comprising a motor and a fan, meansdriven by the motor for propelling the apparatus successively over aplurality of machines, means for driving the fan, means acting atpredetermined points in the travel of the apparatus for rendering themeans for driving the fan inactive, and after the apparatus has traveleda predetermined distance for again rendering active the fan drivingmeans.

3. In a traveling cleaner apparatus for travel over a plurality ofmachines and having a motor for propelling the apparatus and driving afan for creating blasts of air to-strike the machines as the apparatuspasses successively over the machines, disconnectible means between themotor and the fan, means settable at will for actuating thedisconnectible means for rendering the fan inoperative, and other meanssettable at will for again actuating the disconnectible means forrendering the fan operative.

4. In a traveling cleaner apparatus adapted to travel along a trackwayand having a motor for propelling the apparatus and also having blast.

producing means carried by the apparatus, means carried by the apparatusfor controlling said blast producing means, and means mountedindependently of the apparatus and arranged in the path of the travel ofthe apparatus for cooperation with the means carried by the apparatusfor controlling the blast producing means, for rendering the blastproducing means inoperative for predetermined periods of travel of theapparatus.

5. In a traveling cleaner apparatus having wheels adapted to travelalong a trackway, an electric motor having a driving connection withsaid wheels, a fan driven by said motor for creating blasts of air whilethe apparatus is traveling along the trackway, disconnectible meansbetween the fan and the motor, fixed means for disconnecting the fanfrom the motor, and other fixed means for connecting the fan to themotor.

6. In a travelingcleaner apparatus having a motor for propelling theapparatus along a suitable trackway and also having a blast producingmeans driven by the same motor, means carried by the apparatus forcontrolling the blast producing means, and means remotely mounted fromthe apparatus and-independent thereof for actuating the controllingmeans to render the blast producing means inoperative and operative atwill during predetermined periods of travel of the apparatus.

7. In a traveling cleaner apparatus having wheels adapted to travelalong-a trackway, an electric motor having a driving connection with thewheels of the apparatus for propelling the same along the trackway, saidmotor having a motor shaft, a fan loosely mounted on said motor shaft, aclutch disposed between the motor shaft and said fan, means settable atdesired points on the trackway for opening said clutch to render the faninoperative, and other means settable at desired points on the trackwayfor closing said clutch and again rendering thev fan operative,

' after the apparatus has traveled a predetermined distance along thetrackway.

8. In a traveler adapted to pass over a plurality of machinessuccessively and having means for propelling the traveler and alsohaving means for creating blasts of air to strike the machines as thetraveler passesover the machines, means for rendering the blastproducing means inoperative for predetermined length of travel whilemaintaining in operation the means for propel-.

ling the traveler, and means operable after the traveler has moved apredetermined distance for again rendering the blast producing meansoperative.

9. In a traveling cleaner apparatus adapted to travel on a suitabletrackway and having means for imparting travel to the apparatus alongthe trackway and for creating blasts of air as the apparatus moves alongthe trackway and means for rendering the blast-producing meansinoperative for a predetermined length of travel while maintaining inoperation the means for imparting travel to the apparatus.

10. Apparatus for removing lint and other foreign particles frommachinery and being adapted to travel along a trackway disposed "over aplurality of machines, a motor driven traveler .mounted on said trackwayto pass successively over said machines, said traveler being providedwith means for producing downwardly directed blasts of air to strike themachines as the traveler passes over the same, andmeans for'renderingthe blast producing means inoperative while passing over aselectedmachine and for again rendering the blast producing meansoperative after it has passed over the selected machine.

11. In a traveling cleaner apparatus adapted to travel on a trackwayabove a plurality of machines and to successively traverse said machinesand having an electric motor for propelling the apparatus along thetrackway, a member disposedtransversely of the line of travel of theapparatus and having an electric motor mounted on each end thereof, acircuit for the motor propelling the apparatus, a second circuit for thetwo motors mounted on the ends of said transversely disposed member, afan driven by each motor disposed on the end of said transverselyapparatus for again restoring the circuit to the fan motors after theapparatus has traveled a predetermined distance after the breaking ofthe fan motor circuit.

WILLIAM B. HODGE. 5

disposed member, and means engageable by the apparatus for breaking thecircuit to the motors having fans thereon at one point in the travel ofthe apparatus in its movement along the trackway, and other meansengageable by the

